Discount "apparently in memory of those affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks"?

October 23, 2001 1:37 PM

Discount "apparently in memory of those affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks"? I am an Apple technology fan (except Steve blew it cancelling the Newton), but offering a discount in memory of a tragedy? I'm sorry but I find that insulting. The article has quotes about what a bargain the deal is. Undoubtedly so, but a bargain in memory of 9/11? I want to not believe this but the deal is only available in NYC and DC.
posted by mmarcos (24 comments total)

The phrase "in memory" is the reporter's, not Apple's. Computers have been hard to come by in NYC since 9-11. This is a good thing.
posted by jpoulos at 1:47 PM on October 23, 2001

what is insulting is the 9/11 emergency sale at a local car dealership.
posted by moz at 1:49 PM on October 23, 2001

When the first line in the article is "Apple Computer quietly has discounted one iMac model to $499 through dealers here and in New York, apparently in memory of those affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." I have to say that the original post is almost a troll.
posted by beefula at 1:50 PM on October 23, 2001

A troll, sure. Someone explain to me the oddity of such a sale happening only in NYC and DC? I'm sick of seeing commercial crap related in some fashion to this tragedy. Damn all the spam I've gotten to buy quality flags at wholesale prices and dozens of other idiots capitalizing on 9/11.

If this happened in NYC alone who would figure such a thing. But NYC and DC and nowhere else? WTF is that? Price reductions of this sort don't happen like this.
posted by mmarcos at 2:03 PM on October 23, 2001

Regional reductions happen all the time. Overruns can happen anywhere. Perhaps the sale is to take advantage of a federal grant to provide the equipment, and they're writing off the loss. Who knows. But, I can say this -- pricing is always a regional concern.
posted by dwivian at 2:09 PM on October 23, 2001

I agree with mmarcos. I am sick of Ford and Miller and all these other opportunistic companies trying to come across as altruistic by offering 0% financing to "help the nation." What a load of crap. The economy was already tanking before the 9/11 attacks, don't try and make it look like someone is doing their patriotic duty by buying a Ford truck at 0%. The only thing Ford is concerned with is Ford, and Ford's bottom line.

And I screamed at Giant when they spammed me 1 day after the attacks stating that a "portion" of purchases of _certain_ items on their web site will be donated to disaster relief. Don't give me that crap. Either send an e-mail explaining how people can help without buying your crap or shut up.
posted by terrapin at 2:13 PM on October 23, 2001

Price reductions of this sort don't happen like this.

Apparently they do.

What are you objecting to, exactly? That in addition to the $1 million Apple quietly donated to the Red Cross (yep, no press releases like all those other companies) and the free iBooks they're providing as Christmas presents for the families of the deceased (unlike free software, free hardware is cash out of pocket), they've actually had the temerity to extend a discount to the bereaved citizens of NYC and DC? Those bastards. I hope the FTC is on them like flies on you ... I mean dung.
posted by donkeyschlong at 2:13 PM on October 23, 2001

Except Terrapin, this isn't an advertised discount, like the ones you describe.
posted by donkeyschlong at 2:17 PM on October 23, 2001

donkeyschlong, price reductions of this sort don't happen like this. The $1 million is a wonderful and humane gesture, the discount isn't.

One would save $300 on the low end iMac. To thousands of families with children who suffered the tragedy directly, saving $300 on an iMac is not a useful gesture. Apple should have just donated more to the Red Cross. It's jobs, a stronger *local* economy and social support that are needed, not cheap computers.
posted by mmarcos at 2:21 PM on October 23, 2001

dwivian, for sure, these things happen regionally, but no other city in the region is getting these discounts. The coincidence is too bizarre for me.
posted by mmarcos at 2:24 PM on October 23, 2001

If McDonalds wanted to sell their burgers for 50 cents in NY and DC, would it matter to you? I'm asking this without sarcasm.

Look, be critical if you want to, but if we start to second guess everything that people do you'll find (much as Phoebe and Joey found on Friends) no act is COMPLETELY selfless.

People need computers, Apple offers them cheaply. I have no problem with that.
posted by ColdChef at 2:33 PM on October 23, 2001

Dear god, this thread is arguing about pricing?

Doubtless Apple is an Al Qaeda front, and plans to use the cheaper iMacs as an explosives delivery mechanism, with which they will destroy the lower-middle class, thereby clearing the way for Nike and Disney to control the global marketplace, in turn enabling MS/AOL-TW to buy your souls at rock bottom prices through corrupt government coercion financed by CIA drug operations and Royal Dutch Shell oppression in Nigeria.

There. Is that what you folks wanted to hear?
posted by aramaic at 2:44 PM on October 23, 2001

So, mmarcos, you're blaming Apple for continuing to operate within its paramters as a commercial entity? Because what the economy really needs right now is for commerce to grind to a halt?
posted by donkeyschlong at 2:47 PM on October 23, 2001

Thanks, mmarcos, for reminding us that there is injustice in the world. How dare Apple make low-cost computers available in communities recently affected by tragedy. I'm horrified.
posted by barkingmoose at 3:23 PM on October 23, 2001

I think maybe everyone should just stop replying to this, it's a ridiculous troll.
posted by beefula at 3:26 PM on October 23, 2001

Others' remarks.

See this Apple reseller site.
posted by mmarcos at 3:47 PM on October 23, 2001

you're right, instead of offering the one thing they can to the area, Apple should start getting involved with things completely outside their industry.
posted by cell divide at 3:51 PM on October 23, 2001

heh, from the macNN site: "Apple would also like to announce an iPod at the special price of $395 ($5 off!) to Afghan refugees." heh.
posted by delmoi at 4:09 PM on October 23, 2001

mmarcos: you may want to look into how other industries handle this sort of thing. Re-read the article: clearly the discounts are a gift to Apple dealers in the regions, to offset a drop in sales due to the depressed economy. There was even a charge that Apple was trying to "dump" old inventory in the article, but that's not at all surprising. Auto manufacturers have excess inventory all the time, and adjust prices accordingly. Often these adjustments are strictly regional: just recently there was a Chicagoland promotion for one of the Big Three, and the ads mentioned you'd have to prove residency. Unusual, but hardly worth getting mad about. Computers are a major purchase just like cars, and people have been putting off major purchases amid all the uncertainty. This affects the cash flow of dealers, so having something cheaper they can sell is a way of staying in business. Save your outrage for people who are actually doing something wrong, mmmkay?
posted by dhartung at 4:18 PM on October 23, 2001

This is a non-issue, controversy-wise. People, this is win-win; Apple gets rid of inventory, the citizens of NYC/DC can snap up a cheap computer and use the remaining $$ they had budgeted (or not) for a $999 system to do something else, and the local economies will be helped as these people spend money on stuff that they might otherwise not have.

Hey -- no one's holding a gun to anyone's head here -- it's all free(dom) & legal.
posted by davidmsc at 5:11 PM on October 23, 2001

Also, one of Apple's largest independent retailers is J&R, which only re-opened recently. They were severely and adversely affected by the disaster. I'd like to think Apple is doing them a huge favor by giving customers a reason to go downtown, within spitting distance of Ground Zero, and help a struggling business.
posted by Mo Nickels at 8:50 PM on October 23, 2001

Two bits:

First, it's worth noting that within a week of the attacks, Apple donated an iBook to every family with a child who lost someone.

Second, why only NYC and DC? I mean really, three of the planes were en route to LA, and one to San Francisco. I daresay as many or more Californians were affected than Washingtonians.

Not that that matters, really. I'm sure there are people in Iowa who were more personally affected than some in DC or NYC. It seems pretty arbitrary...
posted by kfury at 9:24 PM on October 23, 2001

kfury, again, this is for the dealers. The article states "apparently as a tribute" but that's very disingenuous of the reporter. If dealers in Iowa had 20% or more dropoffs in sales they'd be getting the discounted units too.
posted by dhartung at 2:01 AM on October 24, 2001

Well, this may be a spark in a methane factory, but...

I can say from personal experience that some people in parts of the country removed from NYC are starting to feel a little grumpy - like children who are not receiving enough attention while a sibling hogs the limelight. You can pick up barely spoken hints of this kind of pettiness in casual, unguarded conversation. And really, it is quite natural, and should come as no surprise.

Victimhood can seem hoarded, and eventually, garishly gilded. Marketing, on any level, would do well to remember that encouraging guilty resentments from the peevish, uncelebrated wad may not be long-term endearing.

(BTW, I am not a member of the "peevish wad" - but I sometimes play one on the Internet.)
posted by Opus Dark at 3:26 AM on October 24, 2001